Chapter 30

Story 18. The Line between the Light and the Shadow (1)

Chapter 30

It was an unspoken secret story. It was part of the history of our land.

The story of how the civil war began… Why the kingdoms decided to split up… Why the son of the king, Hakim Karid, ended up here, the far-away Minurd, rather than staying in the capital and protecting the kingdom…

The official story was that it all began due to the death of the Goddess. As the most crucial figure of this land, she had relations with all the kings of different kingdoms. The many sons born from here were the warriors that protected Alincha.

These princes inherited the kingdoms, and they led the armies of The Innocent Ones, who swore to serve the Goddess’ warriors with their lives. When the Goddess passed away, that was when the struggle between the kingdoms began. The nations were united for and because of the Goddess, so once she was gone… It was the beginning of chaos.

Contrary to popular belief, Sevan Camille did not cause the death of the Goddess. Hakim Karid explained that it happened right after Prince Camille was born. Hakim Karid was eight years old.

“The armies of the five kingdoms killed the king and the Goddess right in front of me. That was the beginning of the civil war.”

Hakim Karid’s kingdom disappeared, completely destroyed. The only royal members left were Hakim Karid and the newborn baby, Prince Camille.

The civil war continued among the princes of the five kingdoms. Hakim Karid was very young at the time, so he has been pretending to not remember, but in truth, he did.

He remembered who the true sons of the Goddess were and who were the true heirs to the thrones. Hakim Karid’s expression turned ugly as he talked about his stepbrothers.

The brothers he shared the same mother with.

I asked, “D-does Prince Camille know this too?”

“No. He has no idea, and when the time is right, I will tell him. He is too young and too unskilled to be named a warrior… So I hope that you, Iztal Juya, trains my brother well.”

The seriousness of what I heard was so great that I couldn’t ask any more questions. In the warrior’s presence, I ended up crying in fear, and when I left, I was still crying from feeling grateful. When I left the building, I continued to cry because I felt so overwhelmed.

This was why the warrior asked me whether I would have felt differently from Prince Camille if he was a proper Goddess’ warrior. Now that I thought about it, I realized that my answer was no. In fact, I felt an even deeper love for the boy prince.

The only one in this world. My prince, my center, my goal. My poor, poor prince. The one who had to endure such sadness and hatred from others… The prince who I will help in shaping into a proper man… The one who would someday become an official Goddess’ warrior…

I sobbed because my desperate love would never be returned. It was my fate, and I had to accept it no matter how devastated I was. I hid behind an empty wall and cried for a long time. I knew that, as a swordsman, I shouldn’t be showing weakness, but…

***

Eriez came back after a short conversation with Hakim Karid. I couldn’t tell him what I learned today, so I smiled lightly as if everything was okay and asked, “Did…you get his forgiveness?”

It seemed that Eriez still had something on his mind, something severe and unresolved, but all he did was smile back. We shook our hands and nodded. We were brothers, and we had to live on.

However, what Eriez told me afterward was a surprise. He pulled me closer and whispered bitterly, “The warrior told me that they found a messenger dead on his way here. They suspect it was a messenger from the capital bringing us some news. His body was mutilated, and because so much time has passed since his death, there seems to be no way to find the culprit behind this crime… And the letter the messenger was carrying was destroyed. It was apparently unreadable.”

“What?!”

“The warrior suspected that one of the Innocent Ones may have killed the messenger. He asked me if I could think of anyone who might be behind this, and I… I, of course, told him the truth and said no. I said to him I had no idea. I mean… It’s not you again, Juya, right? Haha…”

With an awkward laugh, Eriez walked away. He looked so tired that I almost ran after him to give him a hug. I was willing to do anything for him if it would make him feel better… Even if it meant giving him my body… To have him insert himself into me… W, wait! What am I thinking!?

***

Hakim Karid told me that there was something odd about his younger brother. It was only later that I found out what he meant by this.

Prince Camille said to me one day, “Any medicine that smells strongly of alcohol has a main ingredient of spirits. Many ingredients that easily incorporate into human bodies are hydrophilic, meaning it dissolves in water well. The ingredients that are good for human minds are hydrophobic, which means they dissolve well in oil. As you know, water and oil do not mix, but spirits can help. Spirits are considered a highly useful ingredient in most books.”

“So that stickiness and slipperiness of the special incense… Is it from the oily ingredients?”

“No, not necessarily. To get that same tackiness, starch grass is often used. The problem, however, is that using food ingredients such as starch is sometimes considered a sin… Also, starch dries too fast and ends up hardening, so we also often use thinned glue for the prolonged stickiness. To make it, we gather whatever is left of an animal and boil it…”

I had no idea that Prince Camille was so talkative. Perhaps he never had someone to talk to until now. Whenever I asked him a question, he gave me ten answers for it, and it doesn’t seem like it happened exclusively just for me.